Case is not about innocence. Also Nifong had duty to pursue case that he believed in. Issue is whether Nifong committed any intentional or even negligent violations. Not in any way disagreeing with AG's conclusions, but important to go back to see Nifong's mindset.
Nifong a career ass't prosecutor, but didn't have experience as DA. Had been out of regular rotation for trying cases. "Vastly experienced" in court system but "extremely inexperienced" in running the office.
Information that Nifong learned--Mangum did make accusations, and everyone was gone from the house, when the police came back. This naturally raised suspicions of law enforcement.
Police interviewed some of the people on the street--witnesses on the street told investigators that they heard racial slurs. Nifong didn't inject race.
"No evidence--none" of any agreement between Nifong and anyone else to exclude evidence.
[Who are these witnesses?]
Mangum then taken to Tara Levicy--she determined that Mangum acting consistently with someone who was sexually assaulted. Levicy will testify on Nifong's behalf.
Three captains made statements that corroborated Mangum's--broomstick and racial comment. Then they find McFadyen e-mail.
[But, of course, McFadyen email not turned over to the 27th--after Roberts statement, after Mangum's non-IDs.]
Nifong was not making statements with intent to prejudice jury, since no one had been charged. Felt that "he needed to solve this crime."
[Isn't that the job of the police?]
Statements were clearly "outlandish," in retrospect. 98 percent of Nifong's statements were between March 27 and April 4. Did not want to make comments once individual charged.
April 4 photo array: Nifong compares 4-4 statement to "yearbook" photos. This is why he taped it--wanted to protect the defendants!!
Purpose of 4-4 photo array was try to locate witnesses and solve the crime.
Concedes that Himan told Nifong that he had doubts about the Seligmann indictment. Nifong response: "if you believe her on Finnerty, then you have to believe her on Seligmann." Nifong did not generate warrant on his own.
Police were not instructed as to how to present the case. [This is the blame the police defense.]
[Although Freedman says his goal isn't to challenge the AG's conclusions, it sure sounds as if that's what he's doing.]
Blames Meehan--Nifong didn't generate that report, and grand jury came back with probable cause.
DNA crux of the case: "what did Mr. Nifong know and when did he know it?"
Concedes that Nifong did meet with Meehan on 4-10--despite Nifong's previous denial.
Nifong had never used Meehan before. Nifong never asked Meehan to exclude anything from his report. Nifong never told Meehan how to write report.
[This is the blame-Meehan defense.]
Nifong--"at a minimum," told Meehan, needed matches--not an attempt to exclude, attempt to protect privacy of DNA profiles.
meehan mentions "non-probative" evidence in his report--what he means was all the DNA evidence that he excluded. Meehan chose the words, not Nifong.
Meehan and Nifong considered this as an "interim report"--discovery an ongoing process.
Nifong always a believer in open-file discovery. Always turned over reports to defense--just gave it over without really looking at report.
Appears to be claiming that Nifong didn't read the report--"as he did not look at any of the other discovery, he pretty much just turned it over." (!!)
DNA evidence was "extremely weak profile." "Mr. Nifong perhaps should have thought more of that evidence."
At the time, Nifong didn't understand the evidence--this is why he didn't turn it over.
[New excuses--a) Nifong didn't understand DNA; b) as part of his longstanding practice, Nifong didn't read reports that he had turned over.]
Defense got exculpatory evidence because Nifong turned it over. Nifong believed that DNA evidence was being turned over to defense experts--no worry about whether it would be understood.
Dec. 15th hearing--Meehan "wasn't prepped." (!!!)
meehan was "all over the place" on the Dec. 15th hearing.
'Law was in a state of flex at that point." Position Nifong was arguing was consistent with what AG had told DA's had to do.
[Blame the AG defense.]
"Look at the man, look at his career, look at what he had on his plate." "Nothing political about Mike Nifong."
Nifong didn't create media interest--didn't ask for media to come down to NC--and quit talking about the case in early April, which didn't dissuade media interest.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
58 comments:
Freedman is grasping for anything.
Even calling Mikey inexperienced now.
Mikey used to be a seasoned prosecutor.
What happened?
Debrah
Sounds like the big lie.
So, Levicy wishes to continue to hoax and burn whatever integrity she has left?
Mary Ellen Finnerty is sitting in front of Brad Bannon.......taking notes.
Debrah
Rae Evans is seated beside her with a very pensive expression.
Debrah
Freedman: PATHETIC!
God bless Rae Evans....I hope she doesn't take her eyes off Nifong.
Thank you so much KC for putting these notes up! You're amazing! Also does anyone know if Collin & Reade are also present?
Freedman is a better presenter than Ms. Jean. But it feels like his heart isn't in his presentation.
Compare it to Joe Cheshire presentation after Cooper's declaration. Cheshire had the fire in him about the players being innocent and showed the outrage of this prosecution.
Freedman's presentation seems like he's doing a prepared research presentation that just to get a grade.
OMG back with 'privacy concerned'...this is such BS.
This attorney is making himself look like a total buffoon trying to defend the indefensible! He argues that Nifong did make "outlandish" statements, but since the statements were only made for the first month, Nifong shouldn't be held accountable. His arguments are so paper thin as to make them laughable.
he just said he's scared for Nifongs privacy! Hahahahahhaha what about the players safety? There houses where on the national news [NANCY GRACE!] and there's a website [dukelacrosse.us] that has there addresses, phone numbers, and other information about them on there. Anyway we can take action to get that site shut down?
WRAL has to be delayed. KC is putting stuff up before it shows up on my computer.
he said that the comments where made in a very small time period....he said from March 8TH, to some say in April.....March 8th?!?!!? There was no Duke Lacrosse case on March 8th....maybe he said or meant to say March 18th?
Gonna have to move to another outlet.
Can't believe that Court TV isn't doing the whole trial.
What's up with that?
Debrah
So he goes from saying the defense was afraid to try a case against him to now being too inexperienced. Fun.
Nifong always turned everything over in the past. So he should get a pass here, right?
Then he indicated that it was an oversight; not intentional. The defense team asked for all information from the lab results multiple times. Let's see if Freedman addresses the multiple times that the defense team asked for the evidence.
It would have been great if Cheshire gave the opening statement instead of Ms. Jean. I hope that someone records testimony. I have to head out for a few hours shortly.
How can he get around having been told about the other male DNA and not turing it over?????????
He can't.
"Not trying to come up with any justification for hiding it"
Slip of the tongue?
whats with the DNA being DE's ?? can't one of the bar hearing panel members stand up and tell them it's not the opportunity to try the Hoax and stop lying??
This is the classic criminal defense, "never done it before so didn't do it this time"..."too stupid to commit the crime"..
I agree w/the poster who said it is ironic that Nifong went from being so great that the defense was afraid of him to now being so stupid and incompetant he doesn't understand DNA or know the difference between exculpatory and inculpatory evidence.
Freedman, with a reputation for experience in Bar hearings, is very unimpressive here from a presentation point of view. His gestures are weak and don't match what he is saying.
They just panned the room and almost everyone is seated. I didn't see KC but they're doing something like 240x320 resolution and panning pretty quickly.
WRAL analysis says that they are not disputing the facts but that what was done was without malice and unintentional.
Julia Lewis said that the mood was pro Lacrosse and that people in the room were chuckling at Freedman's comments.
Some of what he did can't be explained away as incompetance.
How is he going to get around the 'no condom' statements after he knew Mangun said no condoms were used and one person ejaculated in her MOUTH??
He was obviously lying about the potential for 'no condoms/no DNA' since he ALREADY knew that Mangum's statements were at odds with 'no DNA'
Wade Smith will be the first witness and he could take all day (from Julia).
Nifong didn't create media interest--didn't ask for media to come down to NC--and quit talking about the case in early April, which didn't dissuade media interest.
Yeah, right. What a liar.
Its irrelevant, media interest is irrelevant, the typical smoke and mirrors defense is not going to work in a bar hearing. Lawyers are not dumb jurors off the street.
Tara for the defense???
LOL
It's only gonna get more comical
Oh, good.
The coverage is back on Court TV.
Debrah
Nifong may not have asked for the media interest, but we know from the statements Nifong made to his campaign manager that he made a deliberate, calculated, and highly unethical decision to exploit the media attention for his own political benefit. ("I'm getting a million dollars worth of campaign advertising from these interviews").
I think he may skate on the bringing condemnation to the accused portion, but he can't get away from the more serious charge of making false and misleading statements or the hiding of DNA evidence.
JLS says...,
Well I am in class giving a quiz now and missing the show. There is great irony in Mike Nifong arguing there is NO EVIDENCE of an agreement. I didn't think evidence was somthing he was concerned with and if Meehan said it in open court that would be enough for him.
JLS says....
CourtTV did not like the outcome in this case so of course they don't want to cover the hearing.
JLS says...,
re: Bill Anderson
I guess that is the Mike Nifong was a small arsonists who only started a small fire. It is not his fault the entire city burned down.
I hope Jean takes some time questioning Levicy about the kind of questions Nifong asked her (or, more relevantly, the kind he did not ask her). As an experienced trial lawyer, Nifong would have known that Levicy's "expert" opinions would be only as valid as her training and experience made them. In other words, neither a competent attorney nor a jury would put much credence in the opinions of a newby nurse and SANE trainee who had never before conducted a SANE exam on a real rape victim -- no matter how confidently the nurse expressed her opinions. As the prosecutor in charge of the case, Nifong had an obligation to find out the bases for his experts' opinions. That was especially true in this case, where Nifong already knew that Mangum had changed her story, that everyone else at the party disputed Mangum's version of events,and that the cops had serious doubts about her credibility. The fact that Levicy desperately wanted to believe that Mangum had been raped is no defense for Nifong's refusal to competently and ethically investigate the actual facts of the case -- which is what the law requires him to do.
KC -
Will the video be available on the web ... ideally in a 'show me the good parts' format?
No evidence of an agreement to withhold evidence? Meehan has already testified in court, under oath, that he and Nifong discussed what to put in the report, and that he agreed to do what Nifong wanted. THAT's evidence of an agreement. If Freedman and co. don't understand that, they need to go back to law school -- and quickly!
Nifong might be extreme as a prosecutor, but is far from unique.
Play loosey goosey with the rules, and if you can get away with it, you're golden...if not, no harm, no foul, no personal liablility.
Integrity towards justice is not part of the job.
Boom.
Nifong tells defense he knows more about the case than they do and is not interested in dialog..
Doesn't that make his 'defense' of being ignorant of the facts, moot as they say/
I think the best punishment for Nifong is to be court ordered to eat out the whore after a busy shift.
Love those smelly Negress twats, huh Mikey?
Wade Smith is very effective.
He has a folksy way about him.....as does Cheshire.
Debrah
I notice Mikey isn't smirking today. What a POS.
Yes, Smith is very effective, he would have eaten Mike "trial court" Nifong for lunch in a trial.
So the assistant, who has now admitted (through his lawyer) that he was unknowledgable and incompetent at filling the DA role and the SANE in training are going to sing a duet of "You and Me Against the World"?
Forget Chevy Chase, John Belushi, and Dan Ackroyd. These 2 are the real "Not ready for Prime Time" players.
Levicy can't help him unless she perjures herself and says that Mangun never said 'no condoms' or 'he ejaculated in my mouth' or that she interpreted 'no condoms+ejaculated in my mouth to mean "I don't know if condoms were used"....
No help there.
This is just a big dog and pony show for the State Bar to try and show it knows how to handle things and deal with a bad lawyer...
We know he is going to be disbarred. I wont be paying any real attention until the man is sued or some real criminal charges are brought.
Taking a law license from Nifong, who is burned out, really means nothing. Justice only will be determined by the amount of money he has to pay personally or the criminal charge he is convicted of. The State Bar will always be a joke. Lets get to the stuff that really matters.
Mikey "be chompin' down" on his breath mints today.
LOL!!!
Debrah
I'm really shocked at this defense though, I expected something based on shades of legal meaning, I still think so far it looks like a defense for a jury trial not a bar hearing...juries are notoriously lenient with LE and pretty often just plain stupid. Not so a group of the top lawyers in a state.
Being stupid and overworked won't explain why he failed to disclose the exculpatory evidence, why he made statements that were incomptabile with the facts and why he lied about his meeting with Meehan and what he knew about the DNA and why it was not revealed.
Contradictory defenses will work with the dumb jury not a panel of lawywers.
It cannot be that he (a) didn't know about the DNA not being turned over (b) didn't think it was exculpatory and discoverable (c) failed to turn it over due to privacy concerns
who are the the people on the panel?
I wouldn't count on any outcome just yet, but it's quite a silly argument to the effect "Nifong only blabbed to the media at the beginning". Yeah, that's when it made all the difference. Claiming they are guilty hooligans now would only get attention in angry studies classes. Saying the same thing back then got the nation's media in an Avenging Angel(tm) frenzy and prejudged (Note for the NAACP: prejudice) the case.
Freedman reminds me of Rick
Moranis' character in Ghostbusters II, right before he says to the
prosecutor:
"Your witness!"
Vastly experienced?!!?
Wow, they must have serious problems down there. I would certainly not fear facing off against Nifong in Court. How easily can one push his buttons? Pretty easily.
-Esquire-
-Maryland-
I'm watching Court TV, because I can't get a video from WRAL or NBC17. Can somebody advise how i can access the video on WRAL or NBC17? Thanks!!
That's because you're the hot Piscean Esquire from Maryland!
I changed to another station when Courtv went to the Spector trial. I hope they get a huge dip in their rating. Why is Dan not having MSNBC pick up the slack. This is a chance for him to imporove his own rating. I will be thrilled of Nurse Tara testifies and we get the truth from the horse's mouth. Can not imagine her being a witness for Nifong.
When the A.G. announced that the boys were INNOCENT, I thought I'd never make it to June 12th, to watch this hearing. I can't believe it's finally here. I too, can't wait for the civil and/or criminal trial of Nifong, but I am extremely happy about THIS hearing too. :-)
1:04
Yeah, ya gotta wonder: a witness
FOR Nifong. She must have decided
that was the only way to avoid
being thrown under the wheels of
his bus.
Wait til Himan and others testify,
though...they'll want to make this
a One Mike Stand. And that means
chewing up anyone who stands up
for him.
I think I'm actually verklempt. This is such a beautiful day for justice.
Post a Comment